Sausage Ragu

Looking over my recent posts, I realized that they've all been vegetarian!  I often try to cook at least 2 meals a week that are vegetarian, but I've been adding in a few more vegetarin meals, I'm up to about 3 or 4 per week.  I find that fall and winter cooking lends itself to vegetarian meals much easier for me; I love fall vegetables and they feel heartier than spring and summer ones. 
That being said, this recipe does have meat, but there are plenty of carrots, onions, and tomato (sauce) to give you your veggie intake.  Yum!

Sausage Ragu

Sausage Ragu 

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ounces bulk pork Italian sausage
2 medium onions, diced
1 1/2 cups carrot, diced 
3 garlic cloves, chopped
10 oz. tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup red wine

Preparation: 
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add sausage; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.
Remove sausage mixture to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Remove pan from heat (do not wipe out pan).
Return pan to medium-high. Add onion, carrots, and garlic to pan; cook 5 minutes.
Add sausage mixture, water, wine, and tomato sauce to pan; cook 5 minutes.
Serve over cheesy polenta.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Flatbreads

Tonight, with the cooler temperatures, I decided to make flatbread pizzas now that it's okay to turn on the oven.  I used homemade hot sausage, which my uncle made a few weeks ago when I went to my parent's house for the weekend.  The recipe I used must have LOADED the flatbreads up from the maounts they called for, but I ended up using much less than I thought I would.  I turned the rest into a pasta dish for Matt to eat as leftovers and lunches this week.
These turned out really good and you can serve them with a salad for a complete meal!

Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Flatbreads

Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Flatbreads

Ingredients:
1 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. water
6 pieces broccoli rabe
1 (8.8-oz.) pkg. garlic naan (such as Stonefire)
3 ounces hot or sweet Italian sausage, crumbled
1/2 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a medium skillet heat oil over medium heat.  Add broccoli rabe and water.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes.  Set aside.
Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add sausage to pan; cook 8 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally.
Spread pizza sauce evenly on 1 side of each naan on baking sheet. Dollop ricotta evenly over top; top evenly with 3 pieces broccoli rabe apiece, sausage, and pepper.
Place naan in the oven.  If using two pans, switch top and bottom pans after 4 minutes.
Continue baking until the cheese is melted and the naan bread is golden brown, about 3-4 minutes.
Take pizza out of the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Pasta with Sausage, Swiss Chard, and Tomatoes

Phew!  What a long time since I've posted anything!  As I'm sure you know, I tend to start posting again in the summer when I'm not crazy with school; this summer has been nuts though!  Matt and I went back to upstate NY to work at the music camp we always work at and a week later left for our (very delayed) honeymoon.  We spent 10 days in Dublin and London and had a wonderful time.

Since I haven't really cooked in 2 months, I wanted to get back to my roots.  Last time I was in the grocery store I noticed that they started selling Swiss chard and was so excited to grab some!  I found sausage in the freezer and this recipe came right together.  It was super easy and very tasty!

This dish can easily be made gluten free by using GF pasta!
This dish only used 2 sausage links out of my package of 4, so I used the other 2 to make a half-batch of Zucchini Glop (don't let the name throw you off, it's really good).

Pasta with Sausage, Swiss Chard, and Tomatoes

Pasta with Sausage, Swiss Chard, and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

Kosher salt

8 ounces small shape pasta, I used rotini

2 hot or sweet Italian sausage links, casings removed (I used sweet)

1 small onion, chopped

1 bunch Swiss chard, roughly chopped (stems and leaves separated) 

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the label.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. (Don't worry if it's sticking to the bottom of the pan, when you add the chard and onions, you can scrape it off.)

Add the onion, garlic, and chard stems; cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 4 minutes. 

Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the tomatoes start blistering, about 5 minutes.  

Add the chard leaves to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start wilting, about 2 minutes. Lightly mash the tomatoes with the back of your spoon to create more of a sauce.

Add the pasta and cheese; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. 

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Food Network

Weeknight Sausage Pasta

It is Monday of the first full week of school.  I am exhausted.  Matt wasn't even home for dinner, so I needed an easy, weeknight meal, or else it was going to be pizza.  This fit the bill, coming together in about 30 minutes and without too much work.  As an extra plus, it was really tasty! All in all, this was a super tasty, easy dish with ingredients you probably already have in your house.  A+

Weeknight Creamy Sausage Pasta

Weeknight Sausage Pasta

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
12 ounces pasta (I used farfalle)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb. bulk sweet Italian sausage (or removed from casings)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 large tomato, diced
8 oz. tomato sauce
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
½ cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper, to taste
5 basil leaves, cut in ribbons

Preparation:
Heat a large pan over medium heat.
Spray with cooking spray.
Add onion, and cook a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add sausage and cook until browned, stirring occasionally.
Add garlic, cook for about 1 minute, stirring.
Add canned tomatoes, tomato, tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt, and pepper.  Simmer 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.
Add cream to sauce.  Simmer 3 more minutes.
Combine pasta and sauce in a large bowl, making sure to get sauce all over pasta.
Top with fresh basil.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Spicy Southern Kitchen

Creamy Sausage and Arugula Pasta

A few weeks ago Alouette cheese was on sale at the grocery store plus I had a coupon, so I bought some.  After looking at the expiration date this week, I realized that I had to use it up... but how?  I decided to make it into a sauce and put it over pasta.  I was a little nervous as my made-up recipes have about 50/50 a success rate.  However, this one turned out to be a success!  It was a little rich, though I believe that if you use chicken broth instead of milk in the sauce it would cut the richness, or you could use chicken sausage instead of pork sausage.  Yum!

Creamy Sausage and Arugula Pasta

Creamy Sausage and Arugula Pasta

Ingredients:
1/2 pound medium shape pasta (I used veggie rotini)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 lb. ground bulk sausage
1 6 oz. bag arugula
1 6.5 oz. container roasted red pepper spreadable cheese (I used Alouette)
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup saved pasta water
Salt
Pepper

Preparation:
Cook pasta according to directions on package.
Add oil to large skillet.
Add onion.  Cook until slightly translucent, about 4 minutes.
Add sausage and cook until no longer pink, breaking it up as you go.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, add container of cheese and 1/4 cup of milk.  Whisk together until smooth.  Add the rest of the milk and the salt and pepper (to taste).  Whisk again. Add sausage to cheese sauce.
When pasta is done, add pasta water to sauce.  (If sauce is still thick, add more milk until it's the consistency you would like.)
Add arugula to pasta pot.  Add drained pasta and sausage cheese sauce.  Mix well.
Enjoy!

Sausage and Balsamic Tomatoes

I have tons of sausage in my freezer.  It's a little silly.  Every time I'm home, I buy Gianelli sausage because they don't sell it here, so in turn, I have about a trillion sausages hanging out in my freezer.  (Okay, maybe not a trillion, but a lot.)  I found this recipe while I was digging through Pinterest and it sounded yummy.  Plus, it's so simple!  The best kind of yummy! (Extra plus, it made my house smell DELICIOUS!)

Sausage and Balsamic Tomatoes 

Sausage and Balsamic Tomatoes

Ingredients:
6 turkey sausages
1 medium white onion, sliced in 8ths
1 pound cherry tomatoes
4 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. oil
1 handful fresh basil, ripped up
pepper
salt

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350.  Put sausages and garlic in baking tray.  Pour in oil and season with salt and pepper.  Bake for 15 minutes.
Take out the tray, add tomatoes and vinegar, put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes.
Stir in basil.  Enjoy!

Source: Kayotic Kitchen

Zucchini Glop

Today I decided to make an old stand by in my family, "zucchini glop."  I'm not really sure where the "glop" part came from, but probably it's because that's what it looks like.  In my house, we usually just shorten the name to "glop."  My Mom usually serves this as a side dishm but you can easily make it a main course by serving it with crusty bread to dip in the sauce or with rice or couscous.
Also, this only gets better the next day.  I like to make this the day before I plan to serve it so the flavors really develop.

Zucchini Glop

Zucchini Glop

Ingredients:
1 pound Italian sausage (I used hot) or 1 pound ground beef, cut into rounds
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
12 ounce jar tomato sauce
2 medium zucchini, chopped
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:
In a medium saucepan, brown the sausage over medium heat.
After it is browned, add all of the vegetables and the sauce.
Cook for about 15 minutes, covered, or until the zucchini is kind of see-through in the middle.
Remove from heat and add the cheese.
Enjoy!

Sausage Sandwiches

Today I wanted to make a quick dinner, so I decided to make sausage sandwiches.  Some of my two favorite things are sausage and beer, so I decided to combine the two in this super easy recipe!  I poured one can of beer (I used Labbat Blue, but you can use whatever you want) and added the sausage.  Then I covered it and cooked it for about 10 minutes.  After that, I added chopped peppers and onions and cooked those in the beer as well.  After another 10 minutes, I toasted the bread and served the sandwiches!

Sausage, peppers, and onions cooking away

Sausage Sandwich

Sausage Sandwiches:

Ingredients:
1 green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 Hot or Mild Italian sausage links
1 can beer
4 kaiser rolls

Preparation:
Pour can of beer into frying pan and add sausage.  Cook for 10 minutes, covered.  Uncover and add vegetables.  Cook for another 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
While cooking the veggies, put rolls in the microwave or about 15 seconds to warm them up.
Once everything is cooked, put into sandwiches and enjoy!

Sausage Stuffed Peppers

Today I wanted to make stuffed peppers because I had a couple of green bell peppers in the fridge, but I didn't have any ground beef.  So naturally I called my Mom and asked if I could use sausage instead.  She said she didn't see why not!  So, this is what came out!  First, I cooked the sausage.  I didn't have to de-case it because it was in a roll, so I just cooked it through.  That step took a little longer than expected because it was partly frozen in the middle.  After it cooked, I threw it in a bowl with two stalks of celery, a cut up piece of bread, some egg, and some cheese.  (I originally had roasted red peppers in there, but I didn't hear a pop when I opened the jar, so I threw them out in case of botulism!)

Stuffing mixture

After that was mixed, I put the mixture in the peppers and topped them with sauce and a little more cheese.  I then popped them into the oven!  I did not think about the fact that I was only making two peppers, so next time I would half the recipe I used.

Before Baking

I baked them for about 35 minutes, and they came out delicious!  Next time I would nix the bread, as it just tasted like bread in a yummy sausage filling.  Which means the egg would be out as well.  My mom included them as a binding, but I don't think we needed it.

Stuffed Peppers!

Stuffed Peppers:

Ingredients:
4 Bell Peppers
1 roll sausage
2 celery stalks, chopped
Shredded cheese, your choice (I used a four cheese Italian mix)
Tomato Sauce (Pick your favorite kind, or make your own!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325.
Rinse and scoop the seeds out of the peppers
Brown the sausage
Put sausage, celery, and some cheese in a bowl and mix
Put filling into peppers
Top with more cheese and sauce
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until pepper is easily pierced by a knife.
Enjoy!

Chicken, Sausage, Potatoes, and White Beans

I decided to make dinner last night for today because I didn't get home until 7:30 from work.  I also chose something that gets better as leftovers, my mom's chicken, sausage, potatoes, and beans in red sauce recipe.  First I browned the sausage and chicken in a pan.

Layered sausage and chicken

After that I steamed the potatoes until they were almost done and put those on top of the chicken.  Then I put a can of white beans on top of the potatoes.  

Addition of potatoes and beans

I only had Hunts canned sauce, so after I added a bunch of garlic powder and some Italian seasonings, I added a can a half of the sauce to the top of the casserole dish. 

Almost done!

After that, I baked it for an hour and let the flavors marry until the next day!

Chicken, Sausage, Potatoes, and White Beans

Chicken, Sausage, and White Beans

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, halved
1 lb. hot sausage
6 potatoes, peeled and cut 1/4 inch thick
1 (14 oz.) can white beans, drained
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

Preparation:
Sear chicken, about 3 minutes on each side. (It's okay if the chicken isn't cooked all the way through.)
Brown sausage.
Meanwhile, place potatoes in microwaveable dish and cook for 5 minutes in microwave.
Place in chicken, sausage, and potatoes in greased casserole dish.
Place beans on top of sausage, chicken, and potatoes.
Add sauce on top.
Bake at 375 for an hour.

Sausage, Sweet Potato, and Apple Casserole

Today I was in a autumn-y mood, so I decided to see what recipes I could find with sweet potatoes and sausage and found this.  After running to Target to get some apples, I was ready!  (I need them anyway for my dinner on Wednesday, so it worked out well.)  First, I cooked the sausage and then just layered in sweet potatoes and apples.  I topped it with brown sugar and some milk and baked it and I was all done!

The casserole before it went into the oven!

Sausage, Sweet Potato, and Apple Casserole.  

If I make this again, or if you attempt it, I would suggest adding more brown sugar, so there's an even coat and to add a little more milk than called for.

Sausage, Sweet Potato, and Apple Casserole

Ingredients:
1 lb. hot sausauge
2 sweet potatoes
2 apples, sliced
1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp. brown sugar

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425.
Cook sausage until lightly browned.  Drain and place in bottom of greased dish.  Slice sweet potatoes 1/4 inch thick and place on top of sausage.  Add apples on top of potatoes and top with brown sugar and milk.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Cooks.com

Chorizo, Potato, and Pepper Tacos with Tomatillo Salsa

So once again, I cooked Mexican food courtesy of Rick Bayless.  I feel like we always have chicken, so I decided to go the sausage route tonight; the recipe calls for chorizo, however I didn't have any, so I just used Italian sausage.
First, I started making the tomatillo salsa.  It's supposed to be pureed, however remember when I chopped the rubber part on my blender?  Yeah, it's still broken, so I just kind of mushed it together.

Roasting the tomatillos.

Tomatillo Salsa

Next I cooked the sausage, peppers, and onions together in a skillet.  Then I grated some potatoes and added that to the mixture.  After those cooked down, they were ready!

Sausage, peppers, and onions.

The addition of the potatoes!

Chorizo, Potatoe, and Pepper Tacos!

Chorizo, Potato, and Pepper Tacos with Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients:
12 oz. chorizo (sausage), casings removed
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium white onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 medium poblano pepper, sliced 1/4 inch thick
3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, grated
Salt
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
12 tortillas, warmed
Tomatillo Salsa
4 medium tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and halved
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, roughly chopped
1/3 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 small white onion, finely chopped
Salt

Preparation:
Salsa
Set a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and tomatillos, cut side down.  When the tomatillos are well browned, 3-4 minutes, flip.
Scrape the tomatillos and garlic into a blender and let cool to room temperature, about 3 minutes.  Add the jalapeno,  cilantro, and 1/4 cup water.  Blend to a course puree.  Pour into a bowl and add extra water if necessary.  Rinse onion with a strainer and add to the salsa. Season with salt, about 1/2 tsp.
Tacos
Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the chorizo, stirring frequently and breaking up the clumps.  Cook until chorizo is half cooked, about 4 minutes.
Increase the heat to medium-high.  Add the onion and pepper and cook, stirring almost constantly, about 3 minutes.
Sprinkle the grated potatoes over the mixture.  Continue to stir frequently, and cook until the potatoes are soft, about 5 minutes.  Taste and season with salt, if needed.
Scrape mixture into a bowl and add cilantro.  Serve with warm tortillas and salsa.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless

Pasta with Peas and Sausage

Tonight I made pasta with peas and sausage.  The recipe called for canned peas, but I used frozen because they taste way better and I don't like mushy peas (who does??).  There were also a bunch of comments on the recipe that it tasted bland, so I added a ton of garlic powder.  (Obviously the other cooks weren't Italian!)  The final thing I did was use crushed tomatoes instead of sauce for extra flavor and not as much water as was called for.

The sauce, simmering away! 

Almost finished...

Pasta with Peas and Sausage!

Pasta with Peas and Sausage:
Ingredients:
1 small onion, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes
1 bag frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp. basil
1 Tbsp. garlic
1 lb. ziti
Freshly grated parmesan

Preparation:
In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook the onion in oil, stirring occasionally, for bout five minutes.  Add the sausage adn cook it until no longer pink.  Drain, then add the tomatoes, peas, water, salt, pepper, basil, and garlic.  Bring to a boil and simmer for twenty minutes.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions.  Drain, and add the the sauce.  Simmer until heated through.
Serve, topped with parmesan.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Food Network